


Two red rings

by Lumeha



Category: Bleach
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Multi, Need to do more interactions with Rose next time, OT3, mostly Kisuke / Shinji here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-01
Updated: 2015-11-01
Packaged: 2018-04-29 11:27:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5125748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lumeha/pseuds/Lumeha
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt : "No way - I can’t have TWO soulmate" - Soulmates AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	Two red rings

The marks are one of the most fascinating part of the system. Impossible to ignore. Just… there. Something shared between two bodies, from birth to death and birth again, because two souls are linked by reasons that are still to find. Sometimes small and discreet, hiding in the shadows of the skin, sometimes devouring the flesh in colours that no one could ever miss.

Maybe there is a story behind the drawings and the colours. More than just a link that goes beyond what soulmates know and understand the first time they meet each others. Simplicity could mean the world to some souls. Complexity could hide relevant information under layers of more obvious stories. It’s hard to research. Hard to ask people to open up on such an intimate subject. Urahara still tries, with a big smile and eyes lit with a passion. The subject is fascinating, and the simple acceptance of the mechanics doesn’t feed his need for understanding how it works.

He slowly moves his hands in front of him, looks at the two circles at the base of the little finger of his right hand. Two red rings. Simplicity at its finest, but obvious at the same time. Obvious enough for him to notice the same mark on the hands of two other captains. The same two rings, on the same finger of the same hand.

Only soulmates share the same mark at the same place.

This is a constant, one thing he always noticed since he began to study them. Seeing the same mark shared on three bodies was… intriguing. Since that moment, he has been thinking. Hands and fingers. And perhaps a bit more. Eyes and teeth and smiles. Hands moving. Gestures of love and words full of harsh jokes, shared with a smile. The thought interrupts his experiences, his eyes wandering to take a look at his hand. The red rings. Spots of colour on his skin. A little too bright, a little too present. A little too much like the rings on his colleagues’ hands.

There’s a familiar yell in the corridor. He lifts his head, just in time to see Hiyori enter the room, grumbling under her breath about idiotic captains and an annoying brother. Hirako is just behind her, a smile full of teeth and amusement on his face.

“Hey, Kisuke ! Don’t mind me ? Kinda wanted to come and see ya since, y’know. Kind of missed last full moon and all. Wanted to check if everything was okay and Hiyori didn’t kick your teeth out of your mouth.”

There’s a small silence. Hiyori leaves, and the smile changes. It’s subtle. Almost not there. Still full of teeth, but a bit softer. It reminds him of the way Hirako shares harsh jokes with his partner. An edge with a little something more. Cutting and loving.

“And if ya think we didn’t see the mark on your hand, you’re kind of an idiot. Which is a bit stupid for a genius scientist.“

“I wasn’t trying to hide them. I just thought they might be… different. A small difference is still a difference, Hirako-san.”

“Shinji. How many times do I have to say that ? It’s Shinji. And yeah, right. Two red rings on that finger, on the right hand. What difference can ya spot, seriously ?” 

Hirako takes his hand, the smile still on his lips. The red rings match, like they both knew they would, just missing one hand, one finger, to be complete. Two rings like two soulmates. The simplicity is almost easy to explain. But there’s something amiss. Something that isn’t right. It doesn’t fit the usual model, the notes and the research. There is something else, deep at the bottom of his mind, scratching and screeching in a muted voice.

“There is no way for this to be… Hirako-san, yes I know how you prefer to be called, please, listen. This is not possible. I… No one ever had two soulmates and….”

“Yeah”, cuts the other captain, with a roll of his eyes and a shrug “except we all have the same two red rings on the same finger. D’you want to compare with Rose ? Yeah. That’s a good idea. Come on. We are going to compare that with Rose.”

“Hirako-san I am…”

“Not giving you a choice. Don’t look at me like that, you were going to say something with a big goofy smile and hiding behind it, I know it. Ya need to get out a bit too. Hiyori complains ‘bout you recently. So I’m coming to the rescue before she gets fed up. Plus Rose is cooking something great. Ya always say that ya want to try it. Tonight is the night to do it.”

The hand of the other captain doesn’t leave his, and the smile doesn’t disappear. His eyes wander from teeth to hand, from hand to rings, red, red rings, echoed on the skin of the other man. Doubt is still there, scratching at the back of his mind, reminding him of notes and observations and laws of the world.

But he prefers to smile back and nod. To let Hirako take him out of his laboratory, a small song on his tongue, and a light in his eyes. To try.


End file.
